Celebrate Dana C. Chandler Jr. and AAMARP Day in the City of Boston at the ICA with FREE admission on April 7, and visit Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now. 

About the Exhibit

Founded in 1977 by influential artist, educator, and activist Dana C. Chandler Jr., the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP) at Northeastern University is one of the few longstanding residency programs for Black artists in the United States. With the university’s support, AAMARP has stood at the intersection of art, activism, and community for nearly five decades. A vital outgrowth of the Black Arts movement in Boston, AAMARP was envisioned as both an artistic haven and a cultural force—providing a “living focus” on “the diverse dynamics of African American aesthetics,” according to an early program description. Conceived as a Black artist-run alternative art space, AAMARP offered more than free studio space—it nurtured a thriving hub for exhibitions, poetry readings, dance performances, lectures, films, workshops, and public gatherings. Today, the program is still supported by Northeastern University and operates as a vibrant, intergenerational collective of thirteen transnational artists whose works across media offer a rich and varied reflection of the arts of Africa and its diaspora.

Countless artists have been involved with AAMARP, either as residents, exhibiting artists, or program participants. Say It Loud presents a dynamic selection of artworks by thirty-nine artists differently affiliated with AAMARP from its founding in 1977 to the present. During this period, the history of the program has unfolded across three locations: first, at 11 Leon Street on Northeastern’s campus, then in a rented space at 590 Huntington Avenue, and finally, its current location at 76 Atherton Street in Jamaica Plain. Pieced together between archival documents and personal recollections, the histories recounted here are necessarily fragmented, incomplete, and at times contested. Say It Loud offers an in-depth look at the program through the lens of sixty artworks made or exhibited there, even as the program’s full scope exceeds any one exhibition. Tracing the evolution of AAMARP through the artists’ voices, their engagement with global artistic and political movements, and their deep-rooted sense of community, this exhibition illuminates a living archive of creative resistance, cultural memory, and artistic excellence.

Artists in the exhibition: Benny Andrews, Ellen Banks, Gloretta Baynes, Calvin Burnett, Ambreen Butt, Dana C. Chandler Jr., Jeff Chandler, Allan Rohan Crite, Milton Derr, Sharon Dunn, Marlon Forrester, L’Merchie Frazier, Tyrone Geter, Ricardo “Deme5” Gomez, Paul Goodnight, Reginald L. Jackson, Michael Jones, Shea Justice, Kofi Kayiga, Khalid Kodi, Marcia Lloyd, Vusumuzi Maduna, Bryan McFarlane, Stanley Pinckney, Hakim Raquib, James Reuben Reed, Rudolph R. Robinson, Renée Stout, Edward Strickland, Susan Thompson, Arnold Trachtman, Wen-ti Tsen, Barbara Ward, Keith Morris Washington, Don West, Rene Westbrook, John Wilson, Richard Yarde, and Theresa-India Young.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue surveying the program’s rich history through scholarly texts and an extensive chronology illustrated by archival materials and artworks.

Credits

Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now is organized by Jeffrey De Blois, Mannion Family Curator, with Meghan Clare Considine, Curatorial Assistant.

Support for Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now is provided by The Coby Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Exhibition Fund, and The Kristen and Kent Lucken Fund for Photography.

The publication is supported by Wagner Foundation.

We will begin with an educational site walk, and then care for new tree plantings and clean up debris. 

No experience necessary! Tools and instruction provided by Urban Wilds Program staff. Please wear sturdy footwear and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Long sleeves and pants recommended. 

Join us to celebrate Earth Day and work on the following tasks:

• Invasive plant removals within the woodland areas adjacent to the Blackwell Footpath and South Street to improve the ecology of these areas and build upon efforts from previous volunteer events. 
• Litter clean up between Bussey Brook and the train tracks, as well as along the South Street wall.

Tools and gloves will be supplied, but if you have a favorite pair of work gloves, feel free to bring them!

* Please note that the event will be rain or shine!

Meeting Point: The South Street Gate entrance to the Blackwell Footpath. There is plenty of parking on nearby Flora Way and this entrance is within walking distance from the Forest Hills T Station.

A Serve and Learn event is a special chance for community members to learn about wildlife, plants, and how we can care for our natural world. Not only can people "learn" through these events, but they can also put their newfound knowledge to work during the "serve" portion.

In this Serve and Learn, Urban Wilds staff will lead lessons on proper tree and shrub planting techniques as well as discuss the insect and mammal species these plants will support. Volunteers will get the chance to plant trees and shrubs in a few locations on site that were previously inhabited by invasive plants. 

Planting tools and gloves will be supplied, but if you have a favorite planting tool or pair of gloves, feel free to bring them!

* Please note that due to the involved nature of plant installation, staffing capacity, and the limited amount of space in the planting areas, we cannot guarantee that all volunteers will have the opportunity to plant. We will be monitoring the sign-ups and will offer up planting slots on a first come first basis. In addition to the planting, we will also offer an invasive plant removal component for volunteers that are interested. 

Saturday, April 11th, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (rain date Sunday April 12)

Meet at the Coniston Rd trailhead (see map below)